Free Beer
This dish builds maris otter pale malt, munich malt and crystal malt into a fuss-free meal you can have ready in about 65 minutes. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for saucepan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention.
What you'll need
Shopping list (8)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
Diet: not verified. We could not confirm maris otter pale malt, crystal malt, brown malt from the ingredient list, so we make no dietary claim for this recipe.
Contains: Gluten
Allergen labels are informational and may not cover cross-contact; verify every package and consult a qualified professional for medical dietary needs. Diet labels are derived from the ingredient list on this page β how we verify diet and allergen labels.
Food-safety and allergen information is general, not medical advice. Follow current guidance from your local food-safety authority, verify product labels, and seek qualified advice for allergies or health conditions.
How to make it
- Heat about 2 litres of brewing water to 72 C, then stir in the crushed maris otter, munich, crystal, brown and carafa malts to hit a mash temperature of 66 C, and hold this rest for 60 minutes.
- Recirculate the wort until it runs clear, then sparge slowly with water at 76 C to collect roughly 3 litres of sweet wort in the kettle.
- Bring the wort to a rolling boil and add the northern brewer hops at the start of a 60 minute boil for bitterness.
- Add the willamette hops in the final 15 minutes of the boil for aroma, then flame out and cool the wort rapidly to below 20 C with a chiller.
- Transfer the cooled wort to a sanitised fermenter, aerate well and pitch the ale yeast, then ferment at 18 to 20 C for about a week until the gravity is stable.
- Rack the beer off the yeast, then condition it cold for two weeks to clear and mature the flavour.
- Bottle with priming sugar, carbonate for two weeks at room temperature, then chill and serve at cellar temperature, yielding roughly four glasses.
You'll use: Saucepan
Tips & common questions
How long does Free Beer take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 7 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Free Beer suitable for my diet?
We make no dietary claim for this recipe: at least one ingredient could not be resolved to a definite plant or animal source, so labelling it either way would be a guess. The full ingredient list is above.
Related recipes
Adapted recipe β rewritten in our own wording from an open-licensed community cookbook, not yet independently kitchen-tested by Consomee. How we source, test & correct recipes.
Free Beer is adapted by Consomee from the Wikibooks Cookbook, rewritten in our own wording and used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo: Beer wuerzburger hofbraue v.jpg by Christian "VisualBeo" Horvat, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure β how we source recipes.